Ball seater and capper combined



(No Model.)

J. W. CARVER. BALL SEATER AND OAPPER GOMBINED. No. 427,224. Patented May 6, 1890.

UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE...

JAMES IV. CARVER, OF PAVVLET, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AND

GIBBONS L. KELTY, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

BALL SEATER AND CAPPER COMBINED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,224, dated May 6, 1890.

Application filed October 21, 1889. Serial No. 327,620. (No model.)

To 60% whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, J AMES W. CARVER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pawlet, in the county of Rutland and State of Vermont, have invented an Improved Ball Seater and Oapper Combined, of which the following is a specification.

Expert marksmen usually prefer to force the ball into the breech of the gun before introducing the shell containing the powder, and this shell is recapped and reloaded with powder, so as to make great uniformity in the explosive force made use of in projecting the ball. This ball seater and capper combined is an instrument especially adapted to rifleshooting, where great accuracy is sought for. I make use of a tool especially adapted to the insertion of the ball into the breech of the gun, so that its posit-ion will be accurately determined and it will be ready for the shell containing the powder to be inserted behind it, and in the handle of the seating-instrument I introduce a movable device adapted to the decapping and recapping of the shell with great rapidity.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the instrument complete, and Fig. 2 is a crosssection at the line a; as. I

The handle portion A of the instrument receives into one end thereof an L-shaped stock B, having a tubular socket 5 for the reception of the adjustable rammer 3, upon which are divisions, so as to indicate the distance that the rammer is projected from the end of the socket 5, and 6 is a clamping-screw for holding the parts after they have been proj ected to the proper distance. This rammer 3 passes through the rear end or base of the case, similar to a cartridge-case made use of in the fire-arm with which this tool is employed, and there is a head 8 to the rammer within the case 2, and into this case 2 the ball 1 that is to be inserted into the gun is introduced.

The object of the bent or L-shaped stock B is to allow the rammer 3 to occupy an axial position to the barrel, while the handle A is above the housing or stock of the barrel, the L-shaped stock B passing downwardly into the breech of the gun.

It will now be apparent that after the ball has been inserted into the shell 2 the handle A and stock B can be used for introducing the shell 2 into the breech of the gun, and then, the rammer 3 being slid forward, the head b presses the ball 1 into, the riflinggrooves of the barrel, so that such ball fills the riding-grooves and is held accurately in position, and the distance between the rear end of the ball and the rear end of the barrel is determined by the distance that the rammer 3 projects from the tubular socket 5, and the end of the socket 5, coming up against the rear end of the shell 2, forms a stop to prevent the ball being projected too far into the barrel, and this distance can be accurately determined by the marks upon the adjustable ram'mer.

As before remarkechexpert marksmen generally prefer to employ one cartridge-shell adapted to the gun that they use, and to decap the same after it has been fired, apply a new cap, and reload the shell. In order, there-" fore, to adapt my present ball-seater to the requirements of the marksmen, I make ahandle A, with an opening or mortise through the same of a suflicient size to receive within it the cartridge-shell, and I insert the cylindrical holder D within the handle and sup port the same on the pivots 13, so that this cylindrical holder D can be revolved, and

through the center of the holder is an open-.

ing containing the sliding pin 11, one side of which is flattened, so that the end of the screw 12 prevents the pin 11 falling out, but allows an end movement to be given to this pin, and at one end of the pin 11 is a projecting point adapted to pressing out and removing the spent cap. Hence, when a cartridge-shell is slipped over the cylindrical holder D the pin 11 will be pressed along in such holder and the point thereof willbe in contact with the inner surface of the spent cap, and in this condition the holder D is turned upon its pivots until the rim of the cartridge passes 5 head 18, passing through the extreme end of I00 the handle A, is made use of to drive the pin 11. endwise and separate the spent cap from the cartridge-shell, so that such spent cap falls away through the opening 17 in the handle. The holder D is now swung again upon its centers, the cartridge-shell drawn off one end and placed over the other end of such holder, or else the holder is simply turned upon its centers and a cap inserted into the cavity of the shell and the holder turned so as to bring the cap adjacent to the end of the driver 10, in order that pressure may be applied to the cap to force it into the opening in the end of the cartridgeshell, as usual. After this has been done the shell is to be drawn off the holder and is ready for receiving the powder, as usual.

By my improvement the marksman only requires one instrument for decapping and recapping the cartridge-shell and for inserting the bullet properly into the gun, and I remark that the shell 2 corresponding to the cartridge-shell prevents the ball from being pressed too close to the chamber of the gun at either side. Hence, when the shell containing the powder is introduced behind the ball the forward edges of the shell pass in between the ball and the chamber, and the whole force of the explosion is exerted against the back end of the ball to project the same through the barrel.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the handle A, of the L-shaped stock B, having a tubular end 5, and the adjustable rammer 3, passing into the tubular portion of the stock and having a head for acting against the rear end of the ball, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, With the handle A and L-shaped stock B, of the adjustable rammer 3, passing into the tubular portion of the stock and having a head for acting against the ball, and the shell 2, for receiving and guiding the ball, the adjustable rammer passing through the base of the shell, substantially as set forth.

3. In a combination-tool for marksmen, the L-shaped ball-seater having a slotted handle, the cylindrical holder D, pivoted in said handle, and a decapping-rod 11, passing through the cylindrical holder, and the spring-driver 10 at one end of said handle and adapted to act upon the decapper to remove the spent cap or against the cap for forcing the same into position in the base of the cartridge-shell, H

substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 7th day of October, A. D. 1889.

JAMES W. CARVER. \Vitnesses:

H. S. WISEMAN, F. W. CARVER. 

